The kiwi took flight as the latest round of...>

FOREX: The kiwi took flight as the latest round of comments from RBNZ Governor

Orr encouraged participants to pare bets that the RBNZ will ease policy at its

next meeting in Sep. Orr noted that the MPC is in a position to "wait, watch and

observe what's happening" and will "assess the situation in November." These

remarks seemingly overshadowed Orr's pledge to do "whatever it takes" to support

NZ economy and declaration of readiness to reduce the OCR further if needed.

Muted reaction was seen to NZ retail sales print, which slightly undershot exp.

- Safe havens have struggled, with JPY leading losses among the G10. Japanese

CPI remains subdued, per the latest data; core CPI met MNI exp. at +0.6% Y/Y.

- USD/KRW opened higher as local markets absorbed signals of an escalation in

the ongoing row between South Korea and Japan. As a reminder, South Korea

decided to pull out from a bilateral intelligence sharing pact yesterday.

- Focus today turns to U.S. new home sales and Canadian retail sales. It goes

without saying that any fallout from the Jackson Hole symposium will be closely

watched (agenda now available at http://tiny.cc/JacksonHole), with Fed Chair

Powell & BoE Gov Carney due to speak later today.